Demolition work starts on 'death-trap' mill

DEMOLITION work is under way on a mill that has been labelled an “eyesore, landmark and potential death-trap”.

Howe Bridge Number Three Mill has stood in the centre of Atherton for 124 years but has been empty and derelict for a year-and-a-half.

Work has now started to demolish the building and the adjoining Number Six Mill — added in 1919 as part of a plan to redevelop the site into a housing estate.

Shahram Sakhdari, head of development at Realty Estates, which owns the site, said: “The demolition was originally approved as part of a supermarket’s plan to build a store there but that fell through and now there is a plan to build up to 135 houses on the site.

That may change though as another planning application will need to be submitted by the housing company.”

The demolition was believed to have been delayed due to fears that there was asbestos in the building.

But Mr Sakhdari said: “The delay was not a delay from our point of view. One of the planning conditions was that the building needed to be documented because of its heritage. Because of that demolition did not start as early as expected but it was not a delay.”

The mill is the last of six to be demolished, the first having been built in 1865 and the last in 1919 by Fletcher Burrows, a coal mining company.

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Howe Bridge Spinning Co Ltd became the largest cotton spinning complex in Atherton but it was closed as a textile factory in 1996, by which time the two tall chimneys and at least two of the mills had been demolished.

Police are warning people to stay away from the site after several incidents where children have broken into the derelict building.

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Comments (5)

Great news!! Well is it really?It allways saddens me to see another mill go down in Bolton and Lancashire. Bolton and most towns in Lancashire are defined by their history of being Mill towns,these mills were the center of employment(ok,not very pleasant conditions) and communities,houses where built around them.Obviously that era is long past,and good riddence to it along with it slave-ish labour conditions ,child labour etc.But,this is none the less a big ,if not the biggest part of Bolton,s history as a town.So why on earth are we hell bent in eradicating that history?for what to replace it?a supermarket ?oh yes ,we need another one of those !no where near enough Asda's,Sainsburys ,Tesco's to meet the insatiable demands of the Bolton shopper !or is it to build more cardboard quality houses,disguise them as "affordable homes"(affordable to whom?the huge amount of millionaires that you see swelling the streets of the town?) Probably an exclusive gated community complex?spot on,grand,again,we,re in desperate need of one of those too! These mills are land marks,a symbol of our heritage,not eyesores,the delapitated condition they find themselves in now are "eyesores"of course they are.But to listen to a developer tell you it's more cost effective to knock one down,rebuild new "affordable"homes,or a super /hyper market because of the state of the place,or asbestos issues is no more than a smoke screen/fabrication of the truth and to make you believe that it's in the areas best interest.These are structurally sound buildings,Asbestos surveys still have to be done on buildings upto the year 2000(at least my company does one). It serves only in the interest of the new developer to knock these mills down as they are allways replaced with even bigger eyesores,corrugated shopping complex's with no real architectural style or uniqueness ,the same style that has popped up in every town in the UK,eradicating any signs of individuality,not being able to tell the difference between one town from the next apart from a road side sign with the towns name on it. Why not pump some money into that mill,sell the bottom tier off to your sainsburys ,tesco's whatever,turn the upper tier into real "affordable "homes,for the real average town worker ,who doesn't have a quarter of a million to buy a cardboard home nor will get the mortgage to buy one either.turn the surrounding area into a decent public,community park etc. All would be a sound investment into the future and the capital gain eventually would be the same,but with the added bonus of a community built on and in that mill. But sadly we know that won't happen as the profit/capital gain won't come quick enough for the greedy world of property developing. And again we'll see another landmark disappear,along with the chimneys that where visable for miles around,distinctive to the North West of England,which were demolished by a so called "local hero"Fred Dibnah"who did more damage to the Bolton skyline than the Luftwaffe all those years ago. He's no hero of mine.

Great news!!
Well is it really?It allways saddens me to see another mill go down in Bolton and Lancashire.
Bolton and most towns in Lancashire are defined by their history of being Mill towns,these mills were the center of employment(ok,not very pleasant conditions) and communities,houses where built around them.Obviously that era is long past,and good riddence to it along with it slave-ish labour conditions ,child labour etc.But,this is none the less a big ,if not the biggest part of Bolton,s history as a town.So why on earth are we hell bent in eradicating that history?for what to replace it?a supermarket ?oh yes ,we need another one of those !no where near enough Asda's,Sainsburys ,Tesco's to meet the insatiable demands of the Bolton shopper !or is it to build more cardboard quality houses,disguise them as "affordable homes"(affordable to whom?the huge amount of millionaires that you see swelling the streets of the town?)
Probably an exclusive gated community complex?spot on,grand,again,we,re in desperate need of one of those too!
These mills are land marks,a symbol of our heritage,not eyesores,the delapitated condition they find themselves in now are "eyesores"of course they are.But to listen to a developer tell you it's more cost effective to knock one down,rebuild new "affordable"homes,or a super /hyper market because of the state of the place,or asbestos issues is no more than a smoke screen/fabrication of the truth and to make you believe that it's in the areas best interest.These are structurally sound buildings,Asbestos surveys still have to be done on buildings upto the year 2000(at least my company does one).
It serves only in the interest of the new developer to knock these mills down as they are allways replaced with even bigger eyesores,corrugated shopping complex's with no real architectural style or uniqueness ,the same style that has popped up in every town in the UK,eradicating any signs of individuality,not being able to tell the difference between one town from the next apart from a road side sign with the towns name on it.
Why not pump some money into that mill,sell the bottom tier off to your sainsburys ,tesco's whatever,turn the upper tier into real "affordable "homes,for the real average town worker ,who doesn't have a quarter of a million to buy a cardboard home nor will get the mortgage to buy one either.turn the surrounding area into a decent public,community park etc.
All would be a sound investment into the future and the capital gain eventually would be the same,but with the added bonus of a community built on and in that mill.
But sadly we know that won't happen as the profit/capital gain won't come quick enough for the greedy world of property developing.
And again we'll see another landmark disappear,along with the chimneys that where visable for miles around,distinctive to the North West of England,which were demolished by a so called "local hero"Fred Dibnah"who did more damage to the Bolton skyline than the Luftwaffe all those years ago.
He's no hero of mine.Londonlancs

Great news!! Well is it really?It allways saddens me to see another mill go down in Bolton and Lancashire. Bolton and most towns in Lancashire are defined by their history of being Mill towns,these mills were the center of employment(ok,not very pleasant conditions) and communities,houses where built around them.Obviously that era is long past,and good riddence to it along with it slave-ish labour conditions ,child labour etc.But,this is none the less a big ,if not the biggest part of Bolton,s history as a town.So why on earth are we hell bent in eradicating that history?for what to replace it?a supermarket ?oh yes ,we need another one of those !no where near enough Asda's,Sainsburys ,Tesco's to meet the insatiable demands of the Bolton shopper !or is it to build more cardboard quality houses,disguise them as "affordable homes"(affordable to whom?the huge amount of millionaires that you see swelling the streets of the town?) Probably an exclusive gated community complex?spot on,grand,again,we,re in desperate need of one of those too! These mills are land marks,a symbol of our heritage,not eyesores,the delapitated condition they find themselves in now are "eyesores"of course they are.But to listen to a developer tell you it's more cost effective to knock one down,rebuild new "affordable"homes,or a super /hyper market because of the state of the place,or asbestos issues is no more than a smoke screen/fabrication of the truth and to make you believe that it's in the areas best interest.These are structurally sound buildings,Asbestos surveys still have to be done on buildings upto the year 2000(at least my company does one). It serves only in the interest of the new developer to knock these mills down as they are allways replaced with even bigger eyesores,corrugated shopping complex's with no real architectural style or uniqueness ,the same style that has popped up in every town in the UK,eradicating any signs of individuality,not being able to tell the difference between one town from the next apart from a road side sign with the towns name on it. Why not pump some money into that mill,sell the bottom tier off to your sainsburys ,tesco's whatever,turn the upper tier into real "affordable "homes,for the real average town worker ,who doesn't have a quarter of a million to buy a cardboard home nor will get the mortgage to buy one either.turn the surrounding area into a decent public,community park etc. All would be a sound investment into the future and the capital gain eventually would be the same,but with the added bonus of a community built on and in that mill. But sadly we know that won't happen as the profit/capital gain won't come quick enough for the greedy world of property developing. And again we'll see another landmark disappear,along with the chimneys that where visable for miles around,distinctive to the North West of England,which were demolished by a so called "local hero"Fred Dibnah"who did more damage to the Bolton skyline than the Luftwaffe all those years ago. He's no hero of mine.

Score: 40

boltonnut says...1:05pm Sun 6 Jul 14

I agree with most of your comment Londonlancs.It would appear that local politicians are trying to "de Lancashireize" Lancashire to accommodate "others" who are not of Lancashire origin,at the same time these politicians are not opposed to turning a blind eye to local protests as long as their pockets are "being lined".

I agree with most of your comment Londonlancs.It would appear that local politicians are trying to "de Lancashireize" Lancashire to accommodate "others" who are not of Lancashire origin,at the same time these politicians are not opposed to turning a blind eye to local protests as long as their pockets are "being lined".boltonnut

I agree with most of your comment Londonlancs.It would appear that local politicians are trying to "de Lancashireize" Lancashire to accommodate "others" who are not of Lancashire origin,at the same time these politicians are not opposed to turning a blind eye to local protests as long as their pockets are "being lined".

Score: 19

Keaw Yed says...5:52pm Sun 6 Jul 14

I totally agree with both above comments. Knock the old mills down to build social housing for Eastern Europeans.

I totally agree with both above comments. Knock the old mills down to build social housing for Eastern Europeans.Keaw Yed

I totally agree with both above comments. Knock the old mills down to build social housing for Eastern Europeans.

Score: 15

dhmicky says...6:51am Mon 7 Jul 14

Should of knocked down the rat infested eyesore years ago!

Should of knocked down the rat infested eyesore years ago!dhmicky

Should of knocked down the rat infested eyesore years ago!

Score: 0

harry white2 says...11:12am Mon 7 Jul 14

I agree with the above comments but the 1919 date is wrong for the more modern mill ,more like the 80s

I agree with the above comments but the 1919 date is wrong for the more modern mill ,more like the 80sharry white2

I agree with the above comments but the 1919 date is wrong for the more modern mill ,more like the 80s

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